Earlier this year, I was all about that pressure cooker life—from super-quick chicken stock to Osso Buco to shredded beef for Italiano sandwiches. I still make chicken stock every week because it's so simple. Now that my new sous vide machine came in over the weekend, I'm ramping up on things to make with that... I'm thinking burgers are next on the menu.

To date, my favorite recipe is the thing I've never cooked before. I'm always looking for new things to try to help me, not only grow as a chef, but also to be more inclusive of others with what I make. For instance, a couple of my vegan friends were feeling a bit left out of my dinner parties, so I threw a feast for them and served—among other things—vegan queso.

And it's not just cooking, either—planning out a menu is equally as fun. I've watched countless hours of YouTube cooking channels to get ideas for dishes and learn new techniques (Food Wishes + ChefSteps are my current faves). I spent two days shopping/prepping/cooking for my Friendsgiving last week, and four days on my Thanksgiving feast in 2013 (one friend half-jokingly stated my Thanksgiving 2013 was better organized than his business at the time).

If anyone is interested, here are a few of my Trello boards I've used for planning/saving recipes:

Yea, I look cooking, but some days, it does feel like a chore. My gf had to work on Thanksgiving (journalism), so that morning we made paella. I've definitely taken to learning better technique and understanding how ingredients mix with each other. Like what takes for a good marinade.

I guess, I never thought of it really as a creative pursuit, except that it tastes good. Thanks!

I do that ^ while researching. Once I've settled on the menu, I'll archive the cards for recipes I won't make. For the ones that remain, I re-read the recipes and/or re-watch the videos and add my own "process" notes to the description, and then make a checklist for ingredients I need to buy.

I joined a Brazilian drumming band this year (not a joke! haha) and have always enjoyed crafting on the side. I love to make things with my hands, which you don't always get to do as a product/ux/ui/whatever designer.

Signing painting and Lettering has been the perfect creative outlet outside of product design.

What helped you practice/get started? I haven't been making anything consistenty and I've gotten way too rusty, started this over the weekend and I still can't get used to painting letters with a brush.

To get started lettering and sign-painting, I suggest giving yourself a list of words or phrases and do that consistently for a couple months. That'll give you a chance to develop a style and process that you feel comfortable with.

For me working with sign-painting enamel and brushes drastically improved my pen lettering since I was able to develop those tiny muscles. Totally worth it putting in the time to develop the skills, even if you're not going to be a "sign-painter."

Brewing beer: I got into homebrewing one I reached out to a friend of mine to make a special brew for an AIGA event I ran. It was fantastic (both the event and the beer) and he invited me over for the brewday. That was almost 2 years ago at this point and I slowly accumulated my own gear and began brewing in my garage. As a hobby, it can be as deep as you want to go (water chemistry, sugar attenuation, yeast cultivation, etc) or just as easy as reading a recipe on a kit. So far I have made about 6 different beers, 1 hard cider and 1 acergyln (which is a type of mead made with maple syrup). What I like about it is the fact it's a super fun day relaxing, watching water boil and smelling all the grains and hops steep. Put on some Tool or We Lost The Sea and it's a relaxing day.

Drumming: I have been playing drums since I was 14 (32 now) and I'll admit, when I have a freelancer client who is annoying...getting behind the kit and blasting out some aggression is cathartic. I used to play in a bunch of bands when I was younger, but now I just have friends over to jam, drink homebrew, and forget about work for a while. On the upside, I play a lot of metal and punk style music, so I get a good workout after playing something crazy like Bleeding Through or Nile.

Cooking: I find that cooking sparks that same part of my brain when I am in discovery mode for design work. Cooking is fun because you can always try outdo yourself (same with brewing I suppose). I have this recipe of Smoked Bacon & Mushroom Baked Mac & Cheese that I am always tweaking a bit to get it just right. I've probably made it around 30 times now and I am always tweaking one ingredient or another.

Cooking and Brewing is great because others can enjoy it. The drumming though....well...I'm not going to be asked to replace Lars Ulrich anytime soon.

I have a side business building suitcase speakers from scratch, It started out a hobby but quickly grew over a few years. Its the one thing I look forward to on the weekends, listening to NPR and building in my shop. Have a look!

I've recently got myself a Heidelberg Windmill letterpress and some equipment to make my own photopolymer plates. After spending the week on a computer, it gives a lot of satisfaction working with a 100% mechanical machine, mixing inks and generally getting my hands dirty.

Mostly I've taken the last year to get back into figure drawing, since it's really kind of soothing and mindless; perfect after an afternoon of conjuring up inane problems and then attempting to design up solutions for them

I've been travelling a lot over the last year, and took the opportunity to get into street photography — and the last six months, a lot more portrait shoots.

Less about "help[ing] grow creatively," but still in the vein of behavior/social systems — I write policy papers at my university, using the same early research and interview process I use in product design.

I've fallen in love with street photography over the last few years. There's something liberating about just sitting somewhere and capturing something beautiful without it being tied to work. I guess I feel like many designers enjoy photography because it's fun to use your design knowledge and apply it to composing photos (even though they aren't the same thing).

I've also become obsessed with comics (Dark Horse & Image, mainly) in the last six months, I'm flirting with the idea of creating my own!

I've been auditioning to join a pretty prominent Lego User Group by designing MOC's ("My own creation") digitally and ordering/scrounging parts for the build.

Originally, I had grand ambitions of trying to get certified as a master builder and creating larger scale gallery pieces. But I just like the process of working with my hands, and it's really fun to see your design take shape slowly.

Bicycling & wrenching the bikes: Besides riding bikes (road & fixed gear), I really like taking apart old bikes, cleaning all the parts, perhaps repaint the frame, and put it all back together. I’ve amassed a bunch of bike parts for almost a decade now so I have a good collection of things that I can cobble together a working bicycle pretty easily. Since I’m on the computer pretty much all the time, it’s really satisfying to work with my hands and tinker with parts to make something new(ish) & functionality again, as well as “designing” the bikes (e.g. I have this random mustache bar, what happens if i put it on my beater fixed gear with these fat-ass tires?). Then I sell them for some dollars on Craigslist.

A newer hobby of mine is cooking. Again, I like that I’m working with my hands & knife instead of a mouse & keyboard—dicing up a bunch of meats/veg, and experimenting with different seasonings to see how it all comes together (e.g. what if I throw this wine on this chicken breast and put it in the toaster oven?).

I started making mixes a couple years ago. Just collected a ton of music from Soundcloud, popped them into Ableton, and learned a little about the art of mixing so that I could layer songs into each other to make a nice fluid mix of music.

Eventually I got an affordable dj mixer and started djing at parties and stuff. Now I've started producing my own music and it has just been a fun experience learning more about music theory and beat production.

I started throwing clay about a year ago and am now looking to find a nice wheel so I can do it at home and practice more...something about working with clay and your hands is just so relaxing, but also requires a "steady" mind, which makes you forget about everything and be just there in the moment.

Also band practice (I sing and play a little bit of guitar), both with throwing it kinda expands my creativity that I can then bring to digital.

I wouldn't worry so much about having that side thing though, it can be fun and beneficial, but if designing makes you happy don't feel like you're missing something because you aren't doing other stuff ❤️

I'm kinda feeling bad because of the same thing. I strongly feel it's the time to expand my creative output and introduce myself a new medium. I've started anatomy drawing for character concepts but procrastination hits every time. If someone asks what do I do else, I kinda wanna say something else sometimes, rather than digital design..

Cooking and music. Getting back into keyboard and guitar more these days, and hoping I can settle down to learn some proper recording techniques eventually. Mellow guitar picking in the evenings is so incredibly therapeutic. I'd love to get into woodworking (my Dad's craft) down the road too. Not the industry it once was, but the thought of designing and creating furniture sounds amazing.